Other body or interior problem on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER
4 crashes 2 injuries 6 of the 150 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other body or interior problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER report other body or interior problem at a median of 135,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 100,000 miles and a quarter after 175,000 miles, from 107 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 64,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 200,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 135,800 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
5% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64,200 miles | 99,500 miles | 135,000 miles | 175,000 miles | 200,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 4 a crash and 2 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $200–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 21 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2009, at a median of 30 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 185,000 miles.
By volume the 2004 carries the most reports, with 185; the 2003 has 150. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl* - the contact owns a 2003 toyota avalon xls. While attempting to change a flat tire the jack malfunctioned. The vehicle was released from the jack and injured the contact's hand, causing nerve damage. In addition, it damaged the driver side quarter panel. Per the contact, the base of the jack had a narrow width of 1 3/4 inches and was inches in length. The jack was suppose to be able to lift larger toyota vehicles. The contact felt that the jack was too flimsy to secure the vehicle and was requesting an investigation to replace the current jack with one of appropriate size. The contact also spoke with customer relations of toyota. Toyota investigators took pictures of the vehicle and the jack ,and promised a response within 90 days. The response from toyota stated that the jack was not faulty, and the inspection was addressed to evaluate whether the jack was faulty. The contact was concerned about the appropriateness of the jack size in relation to the vehicle. Also, the letter stated this vehicle was not subject to any recalls. The contact spoken to the attorney general.*ak updated 2/6/2007 - *nm
Power door locking mechanism on 2003 toyota 4 runner malfunctions and locks vehicle while running with the inability to exit vehicle from inside. Toyota was notified of this safety issue and is ignoring the problem (copies of e-mails from toyota can be provided). Customer message boards indicate this may be a systemic safety issue. I hope this complaint initiates an investigation. The inability to exit a vehicle could pose an extreme hazard to driver/passengers. Thank you *tr
The gas-filled struts that holds up the hood experienced premature failure. Once the hood is opened, the hood would begin slowing coming down and the pace picks up. The hood would slam shut violently and can potential cause injury to someone who is working on the engine. *tr
Also reported on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER
Rust or structural corrosion
Other suspension problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other brake problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Other steering problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 150 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other body or interior problem happen on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER?
Across 107 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 135,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 100,000 miles and a quarter after 175,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other body or interior problem on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER?
150 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.8 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed